Freedom

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Details: Written by: Richard_McKie; Parent Category: Travel; Category: East Asia; Published: 09 March 2011; Hits: 52078

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China is not a country in which all ideas can be expressed freely. It is to be hoped that once China takes its place in the first world some of these restrictions can be eased. Until then I can only repeat of the comments that I made in respect of India.

‘I consider a modern enlightened State to be one in which individuals can enjoy, as they choose, long, productive, healthy and egalitarian lives; having full and equal (preferably State provided) access to education that allows them to partake equally in the intellectual and material benefits of human knowledge and experience; free from the imposition of outdated or supernatural beliefs and fears or appeals to ancient (and in the light of modern knowledge, concocted) authority; free from predefined societal roles (based on family background or race, rather than personal merit); and free from violence or condemnation from others (physical, emotional, social or judgemental).’

While China seems to be attempting to reach towards these goals, I would want to add some words from another article on this website:

‘I believe that, in addition, everyone should have ready access to contemporary knowledge and ideas, limited only by their comprehension; and everyone should be able to live their lives, according to their own lights, with the maximum freedom, consistent with the freedom of others.’

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Travel

Burma (Myanmar)

This is a fascinating country in all sorts of ways and seems to be most popular with European and Japanese tourists, some Australians of course, but they are everywhere.

Since childhood Burma has been a romantic and exotic place for me. It was impossible to grow up in the Australia of the 1950’s and not be familiar with that great Australian bass-baritone Peter Dawson’s rendition of Rudyard Kipling’s 'On the Road to Mandalay' recorded two decades or so earlier:

Come you back to Mandalay
Where the old flotilla lay
Can't you hear their paddles chunking
From Rangoon to Mandalay

On the road to Mandalay
Where the flying fishes play
And the Dawn comes up like thunder
out of China 'cross the bay

The song went Worldwide in 1958 when Frank Sinatra covered it with a jazz orchestration, and ‘a Burma girl’ got changed to ‘a Burma broad’; ‘a man’ to ‘a cat’; and ‘temple bells’ to ‘crazy bells’.

Fiction, Recollections & News

Moby Dick

Several times past I've begun to read Moby Dick. It's one of the classic books I freely downloaded to my Kindle from 'Project Gutenberg'. Yet, each time, soon after reading: "Call me Ishmael" I put it down in frustration: at the flowery language and depressing imagery of the opening chapters. It's not Treasure Island.

Opinions and Philosophy

Climate Change - a Myth?

Back in 2015 a number of friends and acquaintances told me that Climate Change is a myth.

Half a decade on and some still hold that view. So here I've republished a slightly longer version of the same article.

Obviously the doubters are talking about 'Anthropogenic Global Warming', not disclaiming actual changes to the climate. For those of us of a 'certain age' our own experience is sufficient to be quite sure of that the climate is continuously changing. During our lifetimes the climate has been anything but constant. Else what is drought and flood relief about? And the ski seasons have definitely been variable.

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